Archive for December, 2017

The Christmas Season is upon us. And the New Year not far away. Winter cold has descended upon Northbrook. The light is “brutiful” as Christine wrote last week (a unique combination of beautiful and brutal). I’m still contemplating the theme, Making Room, and thinking about making room for trust. I watched a documentary film last […]

This third week of Advent, the days are shortest and the nights longest. The sparkling Christmas lights and the glittery decorations contrast starkly with both the literal and metaphorical darkness we experience. Writer Glennon Doyle describes such contrasting experiences as “brutiful”- a combination of brutal and beautiful. I find the Old Testament a bit “brutiful.” […]

MAKING ROOM, ADVENT TWO “Comfort, comfort my people! says your God. Speak compassionately to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her compulsory service has ended, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins! A voice is crying out: “Clear the Lord’s way in the […]

Wisemen, shepherds, angels, no room at the inn… we’ve heard the Christmas story many times. But, in the Bible, there isn’t just one story – there are two. One account by the author of Matthew, another account by the author of Luke. Things we have always assumed are a part of the story – like […]

ADVENT REFLECTION ONE (this was written for the 9 a.m. reflection time for December 3. Join us before worship, 9 a.m. for Advent Two) 1The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. […]